The Shareholder Forum supports investor interests in corporate
enterprise value with services that require independence – and that may
benefit from the Forum’s network resources and recognition for advocacy
of long term investor interests – to assure a definition of relevant
issues and fair access to information that can be relied upon by both
corporate and investor decision-makers.

The policies that provide a foundation for the Forum’s marketplace
functions have been carefully developed and tested to allow any investor
to participate in its communications, either anonymously or visibly,
without acting in concert. Established originally to accommodate
professional fund managers, this independent moderator function has
proved to be consistently effective in managing orderly processes of
issue definition for rational analysis by fiduciaries who are
responsible for informed decisions.

Initiated in 1999 by the CFA Society of New York (at the time known as
the New York Society of Security Analysts) with lead investor and former
corporate investment banker
Gary Lutin
as guest chairman to address the professional interests of its members,
and independently supported by Mr. Lutin since 2001, Forum programs have
achieved wide recognition for their effective definition of important
issues and orderly exchange of the information and views needed to
resolve them. The Forum's ability to convene all key decision-making
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consensus marketplace standards for fair disclosure, and has been relied
upon by virtually every major U.S. fund manager and the many other
investors who have participated in programs that addressed their
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Currently important applications of the Forum’s independent position
include the support of corporate managers who wish to provide the
leadership expected of them by responding to shareholder engagement as
well as activist challenges with
orderly reviews of issues relevant to long term investor interests.

Requests for Shareholder Forum consideration of support may be initiated
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professional advisors to either.

SEC Names Senior Officials
to Investor Education and Advocacy Efforts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2009-251

Washington, D.C., Nov. 19, 2009 —
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the appointments of
three senior officials to its Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA)
to help continue its increased focus on individual investors. OIEA serves
the Commission as the "investors' office" and provides educational resources
to help individual investors make informed financial decisions.

Mary S. Head, who recently served as Acting
Director of OIEA, has been named Deputy Director of the office. Kathleen M.
Floyd has been appointed Deputy Director of Investor Education, and Richard
C. Ferlauto will become Deputy Director of Policy.

"We are working to further expand OIEA's
ability to understand investors' concerns, provide effective educational
programs, and advocate for investors' interests. Investors need our
assistance now more than ever, and I am confident that our new team has the
experience and the drive to make a difference," said Lori J. Schock,
Director of OIEA. Ms. Schock was named OIEA Director in October.

Ms. Head has worked at the SEC since 2000,
most recently as Assistant Director for Policy in OIEA. Ms. Head began her
legal career in the Office of General Counsel at the National Association of
Securities Dealers (now FINRA). She practiced securities law with Kelley
Drye & Warren and later with Dechert LLP prior to joining the SEC staff. Ms.
Head is a graduate of Yale College and Catholic University Law School.

Ms. Floyd comes to the SEC from the
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation,
where she was the Executive Director of the Stock Market Game. She
previously served as Director of Baltimore Academies for Baltimore City
Public Schools. In 2002, Ms. Floyd was named as one of Maryland's Top 100
Women. She is a graduate of Drew and George Washington Universities.

Richard C. Ferlauto joins the SEC from the
American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, where he has
been Director, Corporate Governance and Public Pension Programs since 2002.
Previously, he was Managing Director, Proxy Voter Services for Institutional
Shareholder Services and Director of Policy for the Center for Policy
Alternatives. Currently, Mr. Ferlauto is a member of the PCAOB Investor
Advisory Committee and The Conference Board Taskforce on Executive
Compensation. He has been named to the Directorship 100 as one of the most
influential leaders in corporate governance for the past three years. Mr.
Ferlauto is a graduate of Georgetown University.

OIEA has direct contact with tens of
thousands of individual investors each year, hearing their needs, answering
their questions and helping to solve their problems. Last month OIEA
launched the Commission's first-ever Web site,
www.investor.gov, devoted exclusively
to investor education, providing investors of all ages with in-depth
information and "top tips" on how to invest wisely, plan for the future, and
avoid being scammed. The Office also works closely with the Commission's
newly-formed Investor Advisory Committee to give investors a greater voice
in the Commission's work.

# # #

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-251.htm

Modified: 11/19/2009

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